{"product_id":"ancient-nineteen-stripe-chung-dzi-pair-ac-080420-19schung","title":"Pair of Ancient Nineteen Stripe Chung Dzi, 46.4×11.8mm \u0026 46.9×11.6mm, over 1,500 years (Ac-080420-19SChung)","description":"\u003cp\u003eWe never retouch our photos. What you see is exactly what you will receive.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAround the drill holes of Bead A, the stone has turned blue-green — and that colour is not the agate. It is the chemistry of burial, preserved for over fifteen hundred years.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat is visible in Images 3 and 6 around the drill hole openings of Bead A is a ring of blue-green mineral crust: a deposit that forms through long-term contact between agate and the mineral-rich compounds present in burial soil — copper-bearing minerals, silicates, and carbonates that interact with the stone surface over centuries and leave their own permanent record. It is consistent with very long burial and considerable age, and it is visible in the photographs exactly as it is. Bead B carries its own record differently — a deep, rough, pervasive weathering that has softened every stripe edge and settled into every pore of the surface across its full body length. Together, these two beads have had different experiences of the same long passage of time, and both are legible.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNineteen stripes. This is the highest stripe count of any bead in the collection — more than double the nine-stripe antique \u003cstrong\u003eAt-110223-9SBS\u003c\/strong\u003e, nearly three times the ancient seven-stripe pieces. On a bead body of 46–47mm, nineteen bands means the stripes and ground intervals between them are compressed into narrow, tightly spaced registers that give the surface a dense, ribbed character unusual in this collection. The stripes are sandy-tan to warm grey-tan in colour — not the bright white of the younger Chung dzi, but a colour that has absorbed centuries of patina — on a deep dark grey-brown to near-pitch-black ground that has itself been transformed by age and weathering until its original blackness reads now as something deeper and less uniform.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe body form of each bead is a true long cylinder — tubular, with only the slightest rounding at the ends. There is no fusiform taper. Both beads measure nearly identical lengths (46.4mm and 46.9mm) with diameters of 11.8mm and 11.6mm respectively, but they are not mechanically identical: Bead A carries heavier surface encrustation and the distinctive burial mineral deposit at its drill holes; Bead B shows slightly more surface definition in the stripe bands on its lateral faces, with its own pervasive weathering of a different character. The drill holes on both beads are large and irregularly shaped — ancient hand-drilling technique, enlarged further through centuries of cord wear at the hole edges.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe surface of both beads is entirely matte. There is no gloss remaining on either bead — not on the ground zones, not on the stripe bands. The surfaces have been transformed by time into something granular, textured, and complex: mineral deposits have settled into the stripe surfaces; the dark ground zones show rough weathering throughout. In most other Chung dzi in this collection — including the ancient seven-stripe pieces estimated at 1,000–1,500 years — some surface gloss survives. On these two beads, at over 1,500 years, it does not.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePairs of ancient Chung dzi are rare. The seven-stripe ancient group — \u003cstrong\u003eAc-081020-7SChung\u003c\/strong\u003e (\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.ancientdzishop.com\/products\/ancient-seven-stripe-chung-dzi-agate-near-pitch-black-ac-081020-7schung\"\u003eAncient Seven Stripe Chung Dzi Agate Near Pitch Black\u003c\/a\u003e), \u003cstrong\u003eAc-041320-7SChung\u003c\/strong\u003e (\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.ancientdzishop.com\/products\/ancient-seven-stripe-chung-dzi-warm-honey-brown-agate-ac-041320-7schung\"\u003eAncient Seven Stripe Chung Dzi Warm Honey Brown Agate\u003c\/a\u003e), and \u003cstrong\u003eAc-080620-7SChung\u003c\/strong\u003e (\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.ancientdzishop.com\/products\/ancient-seven-stripe-chung-dzi-dark-brown-agate-scratches-ac-080620-7schung\"\u003eAncient Seven Stripe Chung Dzi Dark Brown Agate Scratches\u003c\/a\u003e) — are all single beads, all estimated at 1,000–1,500 years, and none carries burial mineral deposits at the drill holes or the complete loss of surface gloss that defines this pair. This listing is among the oldest Chung dzi in the collection, sold as an inseparable pair.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eThe Nineteen Stripe Motif — 瓊珠十九線紋\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNineteen stripe Chung dzi (瓊珠十九線紋) are among the rarest stripe counts in the Tibetan and Himalayan bead tradition. Numbers above nine do not follow the same cosmological symbolism as the lower counts — they are not read numerologically in the same way. Instead, high-stripe beads are valued for the density and rhythm of the composition itself — nineteen continuous circuits around each bead, giving the surface an unusually dense, ribbed character. More stripes do not make a Chung dzi more powerful; as with any dzi, the right bead is the one that speaks to the person who wears it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMotif:\u003c\/strong\u003e Nineteen stripe (十九線紋); nineteen narrow alkaline-etched horizontal bands per bead; sandy-tan to warm grey-tan stripes on deep dark grey-brown to near-pitch-black weathered ground; stripe edges softened through surface weathering; dense compressed banding composition\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLength:\u003c\/strong\u003e Bead A: 46.4mm; Bead B: 46.9mm\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDiameter:\u003c\/strong\u003e Bead A: 11.8mm; Bead B: 11.6mm\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eForm:\u003c\/strong\u003e True long cylinder (tubular); minimal end taper; large irregularly shaped drill holes at both ends of each bead (ancient hand-drill with cord-wear enlargement)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMaterial:\u003c\/strong\u003e Natural agate; deep dark grey-brown to near-pitch-black weathered ground; sandy-tan to warm grey-tan alkaline-etched stripe bands; entirely matte surface — no gloss remaining\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAge Estimate:\u003c\/strong\u003e Over 1,500 years\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCondition:\u003c\/strong\u003e Heavy pervasive surface weathering and mineral encrustation throughout both beads (age markers, fully disclosed); blue-green burial mineral deposit crust around both drill hole openings on Bead A (disclosed, Images 3 and 6); stripe edges softened through weathering; small white mineral spot on Bead B right end cap (disclosed, Image 7); no chips; no structural cracks visible\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBloodspots:\u003c\/strong\u003e None\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProduct ID:\u003c\/strong\u003e Ac-080420-19SChung\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCollection:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.ancientdzishop.com\/collections\/chung-dzi\"\u003eAncient Chung Dzi\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.ancientdzishop.com\/collections\/original-ancient-dzi\"\u003eAncient Dzi Beads\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYou may also like:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.ancientdzishop.com\/products\/ancient-seven-stripe-chung-dzi-agate-near-pitch-black-ac-081020-7schung\"\u003eSeven Stripe Chung Dzi, 49.4 × 11.9mm, near-pitch-black ground, 1,000–1,500 years (Ac-081020-7SChung)\u003c\/a\u003e — $5,000.00\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.ancientdzishop.com\/products\/ancient-seven-stripe-chung-dzi-warm-honey-brown-agate-ac-041320-7schung\"\u003eSeven Stripe Chung Dzi, 49.1 × 12.8mm, warm honey-brown agate, tip damage disclosed (Ac-041320-7SChung)\u003c\/a\u003e — $5,000.00\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.ancientdzishop.com\/products\/ancient-seven-stripe-chung-dzi-dark-brown-agate-scratches-ac-080620-7schung\"\u003eSeven Stripe Chung Dzi, 48.2 × 12.4mm, warm dark brown agate, scratch marks disclosed (Ac-080620-7SChung)\u003c\/a\u003e — $5,000.00\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.ancientdzishop.com\/products\/antique-nine-stripe-chung-dzi-bloodspots-at-110223-9sbs\"\u003eAntique Nine Stripe Chung Dzi with Bloodspots, 44.7×11.6mm, pitch-black ground (At-110223-9SBS)\u003c\/a\u003e — $1,700.00\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom the blog:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.ancientdzishop.com\/blogs\/news\/chung-dzi-meaning-striped-dzi-guide\"\u003eChung Dzi Meaning: A Guide to Striped Dzi\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.ancientdzishop.com\/blogs\/news\/real-vs-fake-dzi-beads-the-definitive-collectors-guide-to-authentic-tibetan-dzi\"\u003eHow to Tell Real vs. Fake Dzi Beads\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNineteen unbroken lines. Over fifteen hundred years. Two beads that have kept count of every one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe never retouch our photos. What you see is exactly what you will receive.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e📷 We never retouch our photos. Every bead is photographed exactly as it is. What you see is what you receive.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e","brand":"Ancient Dzi Shop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43962418233510,"sku":null,"price":4000.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/7198\/files\/20200804_022457_67daaa25-ba2e-46d6-9cd3-911bcb5b1f8c.jpg?v=1788939496","url":"https:\/\/www.ancientdzishop.com\/zh-tw\/products\/ancient-nineteen-stripe-chung-dzi-pair-ac-080420-19schung","provider":"Ancient Dzi Shop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}